A/N: This is my first fanfic so please be nice, but let me know anything that you think I should work on. This is just one possible way that I think (or rather hope) that the Cameron-Chase relationship could work out. Read and Reveiw!!!
Allison Cameron tapped her foot idly on the floor as she reread the same paragraph in her book for what seemed like the hundredth time. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't seem to concentrate on the words in front of her, her mind kept wandering to other things...things that she knew she shouldn't be thinking about right now, or rather a certain doctor she knew she shouldn't be thinking about at all.
The relationship that she and Chase had, if you could even call it that, had been over for nearly a month now, so why did she find herself still thinking about him all the time, stealing glances at him when she thought that no one was looking? He was attractive, she'd give him that, but she hadn't been lying when she said that he was the person at work she was least likely to fall in love with. Then why did she still think about him so much…why did she miss him? No, she decided miss was not the correct word, she didn't miss him because you only missed people who you really cared about, people you loved. She liked Chase, but only in the friendly coworkers who also happened to have slept together way, right?
Cameron sighed and shut her book rather loudly, though not loud enough to wake Forman who was sound asleep with his head on the table a little ways from her. It had been a dull day, in fact it had been a dull week. No cases had come to the hospital that had been of any interest to House so they had had very little to do. House himself was currently in his office "working", which meant that he was playing one of his handheld games and did not want to be disturbed. The ducklings had been spending their time as best they could in order to ward off boredom, Forman had mostly been flipping through a magazine, which now lay still open beneath him, she had been trying to read her book and Chase had been doing his crossword puzzles as always.
She glanced across the table at the crossword puzzle book that lay open there, untouched for quite some time now. Where was Chase anyway? Not that she cared. Their coffee maker had been broken this morning when House had been playing, a little to energetically, with his ball, and in desperation Chase had offered to go down to the cafeteria and get coffee for them. That had been, she glanced at the clock, forty-seven minutes ago- not that she was counting or anything, she just really wanted her coffee. She wondered what he could possibly be doing down there that was taking him so long.
All of a sudden Cameron made her decision, she was going to go down to the cafeteria and find out what the heck was taking Chase so long with the coffee. She was out of her chair and halfway to the door before she paused. It was none of her business really, for all she knew there was just a long line at the cafeteria, a really really long line. She stood a moment more in indecision before making up her mind and heading for the door. She had every right to go looking for Chase she thought to herself, and anyways it wasn't like it was him she was really looking for, she just wanted her coffee.
Chase leaned back into the hard plastic chair and laughed "but you should see him at work, he really is brilliant" he said to the blonde nurse sitting across from him.
"But if all those things you say about him are true, it must take a special kind of person to work with Dr. House" she said giving him a flirting half-smile.
"Well what can I say. I guess I'm one in a million" and he flashed her that winning smile that drove all the women crazy, well all but one. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, flirting with her, using her. In truth he didn't find himself attracted to her at all, and he wasn't sure he would have even been able to remember her name if it hadn't been pinned to her chest-Lynn. It wasn't even a beautiful name, Chase preferred prettier sounding names, like Jennifer, or Catherine, or Allison. Allison, Chase sighed inwardly, he and Cameron had barely been talking for the last month, only enough to do their job. He hated it really, not being able to talk to her that much, he missed her.
It was true that he had not been getting everything he wanted from their "relationship", but it was better than this. In the beginning sex had been enough, Cameron was beautiful and he had always been attracted to her. But soon he found himself falling for her. At first he tried to deny it, tried to force himself to feel otherwise because he knew that for her all their relationship would ever be was uncomplicated, no strings attached sex, but he just couldn't do it. He hadn't meant to ever say anything to her, because he knew that he would just end up getting hurt, but he couldn't help himself, he had to know.
And now he knew. She didn't care about him, didn't want anything more from their relationship , and it was over- so why couldn't he just move on? Why, a month after the end of their relationship did he still think about her all the time? Why, every time she came near him, did he feel like throwing her up against the wall and kissing her senseless? Why did he still have that picture the photographer had taken of her on the nightstand beside his bed?
Chase was pulled away from his thoughts by the sound of Lynn's voice "so" she said curling a lock of blonde hair around her perfectly manicured finger "do you have any plans tonight".
"uhhhh" Chase was stalling for time when he saw her enter the cafeteria, she looked angry. What was she doing here anyway…oh right-the coffee. God she was gorgeous. Some of her hair had fallen across her face from the pony tail she had pulled it back in, and her eyes… even when she looked angry enough to kill she still took his breath away. Chase tore his eyes away from Cameron and glanced back at Lynn, but it was too late. She had followed his gaze and saw the young female doctor making her way towards them.
"Oh I see how it is" she said angrily standing up and grabbing her things "my breaks over anyway" and she stormed away just as Cameron reached the table and took her vacant seat.
"Who was that?" she asked by way of greeting, and Chase was surprised to see a flash of jealousy in her gorgeous eyes. But a moment later he reminded himself that it could not be jealousy because Cameron didn't care about him.
'"One of the new nurses" he replied shortly
"So you think it's okay to disappear for fifty minutes just to flirt with one of the nurses?" there it was again, that look "there could have been an emergency or we could have gotten a case or something" she was really angry now.
"We aren't going to get any cases right now- you know how House is, and besides you could have called me on my cell phone if you really needed me"
Cameron chose to ignore this comment and continued with her tirade "The nerve of leaving me up there for so long, just so you could get into bed with some blonde med-school dropout with a nice ass." they were starting to attract attention Chase realized and he decided that they should probably continue this discussion somewhere a little more private.
"Come on" he said grabbing Cameron by the arm "we can talk in one of the empty exam rooms"
"Don't touch me" she hissed, and wrenched her arm from his grasp, but nonetheless she followed him out of the cafeteria and down the hall. He held open the door of the exam room for her and followed her in, locking the door behind then so they wouldn't be disturbed.
When Cameron went down to the Cafeteria she had expected to find Chase getting something to eat, or maybe reading a magazine or just being plain lazy about getting the coffee. What she had not expected to find was this…him talking to some…some blonde slut in a nurse's uniform. When she first saw then together she felt a surge of emotion, almost like...no, it hadn't been jealousy, she had just been angry because she wanted her coffee, that was why she had gone down there in the first place.
Now as she stood facing Chase in the small exam room she felt another surge of emotion, desire and...she didn't want to think about what else it was she was feeling. Besides she probably only felt this way because she was so used to sleeping with Chase, it was her natural reaction. He stood watching her for a moment, waiting for her to say something, and then upon deciding that she was not going to say anything, started the conversation himself. "Listen" he began in his sexy Australian accent, which, Cameron reminded herself, she should not be thinking about right now "I'm sorry about the coffee, okay, I should have brought it up like I said I would, but I think you might be making a little bit of a big deal out of it."
"It's not just the coffee" Cameron said, surprising herself with this revelation. But, one part of her argued, it was just the coffee, she had come down here only because she wanted her coffee, but that was a lie, and coffee was definitely not the reason she was so mad. As realization slowly dawned on her Chase spoke again.
"well what was it then?" his voice was soft all trace of anger now gone.
"It was…I...I.. wanted...just." What did she want? That little nagging voice asked again, but then she knew. Since words failed her she walked slowly forward, covering the remaining distance between herself and Chase, and gently placed her hands on his chest. He was looking at her with a mix of confusion, anger, desire…and something she couldn't place. Then she did something that neither had expected, but both had wanted, she kissed him.
The kiss was very different from their previous encounters. Instead of being passionate and demanding, it was soft and loving. Cameron let her hands slowly slide up to Chase's shoulders. But then just as suddenly as she had kissed him, he pushed her away. "Allison, I can't do this anymore, I can't be just your bed mate, I want more, but you've made it quite clear that you don't" he looked her in the eye "so we can't do this anymore".
"Chase...Robert" she corrected herself "I know that I've said some things- but I was confused I didn't realize." here she paused for a moment "I didn't realize that I really do care for you, and that maybe I want more too. I know we've had a tough start, and maybe things won't even work out between us, but I'd like to give it a try. Maybe dinner, or a movie, and we could see how things go from there, that is unless you don't want to anymore." When he didn't say anything she rushed on "because I really wouldn't blame you if you didn't because I really haven't been that kind to you lately and I."
She was rambling with no sign of stopping and so he did the only thing he could think of to quiet her…he kissed her. As he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer he thought that maybe, just maybe, things could work out for them.